Alaska – Valdez - Day 3 – San Stephens Glacier & Wildlife Cruise

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Day 3 in Valdez. We had a steady rain overnight. The temperature is in the mid 40°s F in the morning and not to get above 55°F all day. I spot the sea otter for the first time Lora seen the other day.

The prior evening Lora and I agree to extend our stay in Valdez one more night. We do not want to pack up in the cold rain. Thursday is expected to be sunny, so we will leave then. I head over to the main office at the Bear Paw Camper Park across from the Marina to pay for one more day.

When I get back I see the US Coast Guard is bringing in a boat attached to its side.

Today we are booked to take a Glacier and Wildlife Cruise with Stan Stephens Glacier & Wild Life Cruises. We are taking the Columbia Glacier Cruise. This 6-hour journey through Prince William Sound will feature a visit to the Columbia Glacier area where you have a chance to view history in the making as Columbia Glacier retreats into the Chugach Mountains. In addition to the amazing ice in Columbia Bay you will see wildlife along the way that calls the Sound home and have the opportunity to learn about the mining, oil shipping, earthquake, and fishing history of the area. They also serve a light meal on board.

We are scheduled to leave port at 11:00 am but advised to arrive 1 hour before departure. We leave the camper at 10:00 am. We drive 1 minute to the marina parking lot

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Check-in is quick, we are given 2 pass cards and asked to wait under the canopy. Stan Stevens has 2 ships, Valdez Spirit and Valdez Glacier. We are going on the Valdez Spirit today. The tour will use both ships today because of the group size.

I spot a pair of nesting eagles on a light pole in the marina.

The Glacier leaves before us. We leave just after 11:00 am. The Captain says the weather out on the sound is better than in port.

We drive past Bear Paw Camper Adult Park and out camper parked on the edge.

We cruise along the Sound past various fishing vessels. The captain says he will run along the shore once he gets past the boats. He spots a sea otter relaxing on his back in the water.

We spot a young bald eagle is perched on top of a tree. The young eagle does not look like an adult eagle. They do not have their distinct white head and black body. A second adult bald eagle is a few trees down from the young eagle.

We pass by The Cliff gold mine, staked in 1906 in the Port Valdez district. The Cliff mine became the largest gold producer in the district producing over 25,000 ounces on gold. The mine was closed in the 1940’s when World War II broke out. In the 1964 earthquake the mine was damaged by landslides and tidal waves.

Just after the mine the Captain spots a pair of bald eagles perched on a tree.

There are numerous waterfalls and cascades flowing into the Sound from the snow and glaciers high up in the mountains surrounding the Sound.

We continue along the shore and spot a ground of harbor seals, sea otter, and bald eagle.

After about 2 hours of running along the shore the Captain maneuver’s the ship to the center of the Sound. We spot a group of sea lions and harbor seals resting on a harbor marker 13. We circle the marker to get good views of the seals and sea lion.

The Captain passes a fishing vessel catching salmon on nets spread toward the shore with a smaller boat. The smaller boat will capture the fish and create a corral by closing the circle by maneuvering to the fishing vessel.

We learn all the other boats in the Sound sitting in place are waiting for tomorrow morning. July 10th was opening day for Salmon netting in the Sound. At 7:00 am a bell will ring over the radios and the fisherman and drop the nets till the bell sounds in the evening to stop fishing. If fishermen are found with nets in the water anytime before or after the bell rings, they are subject to stiff fines.

The Captain informs us he will be now moving towards the Columbia Glacier. It will take nearly an hour before we start seeing ice floating in the Sound. During this time, we are served our light lunch of clam chowder, bagel, crackers, and oreo cookies. The meal was satisfying. If we planned properly we should have brought snacks and drinks.

As we are heading into the mouth of Columbia Glacier the floating ice field turns into larger icebergs.

The Captain maneuvers around the very large icebergs and pushes his way through smaller pieces. He describes there are five classifications of icebergs. Many of the icebergs appear blue due to light refraction and age. Older icebergs reveal vivid hues of green and blue. We see the same colors when visiting Worthington Glacier and Valdez Glacier Lake the prior day.

We pass the glacier tour ship Lu Lu Belle. The ship is much smaller than Stan Stephens cruise ships. The Lu Lu Belle cruise is up to 9 hours. They visit 2 glaciers on their tour.

We circle around a group of sea otters gathered on an iceberg. We spend 15 minutes circling the otters before the Captain continues toward Columbia Glacier. I recall he mentioning the glacier is still 6 miles away.

We begin to crawl very slowly through the ice field. The size of the icebergs are much larger. Only 10% of the iceberg is visible above the water. The ice crunches up against the ship as we move forward.

As we begin to approach the Columbia Glacier we can see the second Stan Stephens cruise ship. We are about ½ mile away from the glacier. We keep this distance in case there is a large wave resulting from a massive glacier break.

One of the ship assistance net piece of ice from the water to walk around the ship. The ice is so clear. Later she breaks up the ice and passes out the chips for anyone to taste. Lora and I sample a piece of glacier. Absolutely cool taste ice that is over a thousand years old.

Columbia Glacier is a receding glacier. The Columbia Glacier descends from an ice field 10,000 feet above sea level, down the flanks of the Chugach Mountains, and into a narrow inlet that leads into Prince William Sound. It is one of the most rapidly changing glaciers in the world.

The glacier is one of the most active glaciers for ice calving. Calving is unpredictable so all you can do is scan from one end to the other in hopes to capture an ice calving. During our visit we were able to capture 3 ice calving’s. Unfortunately, we were unable to capture the initial break.

We stay at the glacier for a tad over 30 minutes. After which we head back into the iceberg field. This time we cruise along the shore where there is less ice in the way.

The cruise back is uneventful. We spot a few porpoises ahead. The Captain slows down and explains the porpoise like to swim along side and in the back. A pair of porpoises swim behind and on the side of the ship before breaking off.

The waves on the Sound are 3-5 feet. The ship rolls up and down trough the swells spraying water as the bow slams into a wave. We go on like this for about 15 minutes before he turns east towards the Valdez Harbor.

Before reaching port the Captain finds another eagle perched on a tree and a rock formation that appears as a face.

We arrive back in port at 5:30 pm. The disembarkment is fast and easy. We are back to the camper in under 10 minutes from leaving the ship.

When visiting Valdez we would definitely suggest a Glacier and Wildlife Cruise with either Stan Stephens or Lu Lu Belle. Both have decent reviews and priced equally. We are disappointed we seen no whales, but understand the weather was not good for whale watching.

We ended the evening watching TV. The rain is expected to be around till Wednesday.

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